Page 133 of The Wayward Son

“Cut my hair and die it black?”

“No. Don’t do that. I love your hair.” He kissed her. “And I love you.”

“Sawyer O’Connell. I believe I love you, too.”

“So, how about we do some naked yoga together?”

Jade laughed. “I’ve got a better idea.” She stood and took his hand. “Come on, Hercules.”

“Hmm. I like it when you’re bossy.”

“Really? Then take those clothes off, cowboy.”

“I will if you will.”

Chapter thirty-seven

"Are you in desperate need of some muffins?"

Jade had been gone every night over the last week, and even though they hadn’t had the time or opportunity to really talk about it, Sage knew where Jade was at night and what she was doing. What she didn’t know, is whether or not Jade had accepted the job offer.

On Sunday, Jade came home in a rush to get ready for work. She’d been gone all day and needed to be at work in an hour. Sage watched her as she wolfed down a sandwich while checking some things on the laptop.

“You’ve been super busy this week. I’ve hardly seen you.”

Jade glanced at her. “Yeah. I’m sorry. We really need to catch up.”

“I assume you’ve been spending all your time with Sawyer. I’ve hardly talked to him, either.”

Jade closed the laptop. “We’ll catch up. I promise. But right now, I’ve got to get ready for work.”

“Okay.” Sage sighed. Jade was avoiding her.

Jade left the house a few minutes later and Sage looked at the laptop for a moment. Would it be spying if Jade forgot to sign out of her email account? After staring at the computer a few moments longer, Sage got up and brought it to the table. She opened it. Jade’s email account was still pulled up.

Sage closed the laptop. “No. I can’t.” She thought about Sawyer. “I have to do it.” She opened the computer again and scanned through the emails. The first several were from the Honolulu Blue Water Resort. Sage took a breath, then opened the first email. She read it, then the others. As anger surged through her, she exited out of the account and closed the laptop.

“How could you do this to him?”

She needed to talk to someone about this.

Without thinking about the fact she’d been working in the garden all day, she left the house without even taking her hair out of the messy bun it had started falling out of mid-afternoon. She drove to town and parked in front of the bakery.

When she noticed the lights were out and the closed sign was in the window, she remembered Xander was closed on Sundays. She thought for a moment, then drove to his house. This was an emergency. Hopefully, he wouldn’t mind her crashing in on his family time.

The old Victorian he was renting was a town landmark. It was three stories, with a turret on either end of the house. The front porch was massive, with big pillars holding up the roof. She’d always loved the house, and she was glad he was able to get into it.

Sage parked in front of the house, then went up the brick path and onto the porch with its wicker furniture and a few toys strewn about. After taking a breath of resolve, she knocked on the door.

Xander opened the door in an apron with a wooden spoon in his hand. He was obviously surprised to see her.

“Whoa. Hi.”

“I’m sorry to show up like this.”

“Are you in desperate need of some muffins?”

She smiled. “No. Advice, actually.”

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